Prioritizing and presenting service offerings within a mobile device based upon a data driven user context

Abstract

A method for dynamically selecting user presented services that are based upon a situation context. The method can include a mobile communication device that can identify situational data. Situational data can include items such as the device location, a user profile, and additional data elements. Next the situation context can be determined from the situational data. Based on the situation context, a set of services can be prioritized for the situation. A portion of the set of services can be dynamically presented on an interlace of the mobile device. A user selection of a presented service can be received via the interface. In response to the user selection, a programmatic action can be performed, such as contacting the service provider associated with the selected service.

1 . A method for dynamically selecting user presented services based upon a context comprising:
 a mobile communication device identifying situational data, said situational data including a location of the mobile communication device, a user profile, and at least one additional situational data element;   determining a situation context based upon the situational data;   automatically prioritizing a set of services based upon the situation context;   dynamically presenting at least a portion of the set of services in prioritized order upon an interface of the mobile communication device;   receiving a user selection of a presented service; and   performing at least one programmatic action responsive to the user selection, said at least one programmatic action contacting a service provider associated with the presented service.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the situational data includes real-time data that is processed in real-time, and wherein the identifying, determining, prioritizing, and presenting steps are iteratively repeated as either the situational data changes or as a predetermined time passes. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining that the situation context is associated with an emergency situation; and   automatically alerting a user of the mobile communication device of the emergency situation and automatically presenting the portion of the set of services.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 automatically determining information related to the situational data relevant for the user selection; and   automatically conveying the determined information to the service provider.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the situational data is obtained from a plurality of data sources, said data sources including an internal data store of the mobile communication device and at least one external data store. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the at least one external data store includes at least one Personal Area Network (PAN) data store accessed using a PAN transceiver of the mobile communication device and at least one Wide Area Network (WAN) data store access using a WAN transceiver of the mobile communication device. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a sensor of a computing device external to a handset of the mobile communication device receiving input, the situational data including the received input.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the situational data includes information automatically obtained from entries contained in a scheduling application of a user of the mobile communication device. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the user profile comprises information selected from a group of information consisting of organizations to which the subscriber belongs, medical information for the subscriber, entertainment preferences of the subscriber, and eating preferences of the subscriber. 
     
     
         10 . A mobile communication device comprising:
 a location detection component configured to automatically determine a location of the mobile communication device;   at least one transceiver configured to permit the mobile communication device to exchange data with at least one remotely located data store;   a memory store comprising user-specific information;   a context processor configured to dynamically and automatically determine a situational context based upon the location determined by the location detection component information from the at least one remotely located data source, and the user-specific information;   a prioritization engine configured to automatically prioritize a set of available services based upon a context determined by the context processor;   a user interface configured to dynamically present prioritized ones of the services as determined by the prioritization engine for user selection; and   a service processor configured to handle user selected ones of the presented services.   
     
     
         11 . A method for situationaly prioritizing services for display on a mobile device comprising;
 automatically determining a location of the mobile device associated with a subscriber;   automatically acquiring data related to at least one of the subscriber and the location, wherein said data is acquired from a plurality of different data sources;   automatically prioritizing a set of available services, said prioritization being based upon the location and the acquired data;   presenting at least a portion of the set of available services within an interface of the mobile device in the prioritized order; and   iteratively repeating the determining, acquiring, prioritizing, and presenting steps, wherein the prioritized order dynamically changes as the location and the acquired data change.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein one of the different data sources is accessed via a personal area network communication channel and wherein another of the different data sources is a memory included within the mobile communication device. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the personal area network is at least one of a BLUETOOTH connection aid a WIFI connection. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 a sensor of a computing device external to the handset of the mobile telephony device receiving input, wherein the external computing device is one of the different data sources; and   conveying at least one of the information including the received input and information derived from the received input to the mobile communication device over the personal area network, wherein the acquired data includes the conveyed information.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the sensor senses at least one condition selected from a group of conditions consisting of a physiological condition of the subscriber, an environmental temperature, a weather condition, and a condition of a vehicle within which the computing device is embedded. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein another one of the different data sources is accessed via a wide area network communication channel. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 receiving information of a physiological condition of the subscriber using a sensor configured to monitor said physiological condition, wherein said acquired data includes the received information.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein one of the data sources is a calendar of the subscriber, which includes a plurality of scheduled events associated with the subscriber. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein one of the data sources is a profile containing information specific to the subscriber. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the subscriber-specific information comprises information selected from a group of information consisting of organizations to which the subscriber belongs, medical information for the subscriber, entertainment preferences of the subscriber, and eating preferences of the subscriber.